With the increasing proliferation of cost-efficient and powerful computing and communications capabilities comes the ability to deploy sensors and link them to a network. The benefits of this link is obvious in some areas, for example in enterprises like supply chain management (SCM). A supply chain includes manufacturing centers, transportation fleets, warehouses/distribution centers and retail/wholesale outlets. Information about goods in the retail/wholesale outlets, for example, can be obtained from a remote computer that is connected to the sensors that track the goods.
Current object tracking solutions are based on bar codes and the use of bar code readers. A bar code system requires bar codes to be in good condition and must be in the line-of-sight of the readers. The wear and tear on labels and the difficulty of guaranteeing that the label is presented appropriately to the reader are major hindrances to increased automation as they often require human intervention. Since human intervention is required during normal operation, the workers could detect and remedy incorrect or faulty operation of the devices/system. RFID technology offers a more reliable solution than bar codes and lends itself to automatic operation (i.e., with reduced human involvement) because the radio frequency technology is less sensitive to factors like the condition and the position of the sensor devices. Further, RFID can monitor devices at a higher rate than bar codes, thereby allowing an increase in the throughput of goods and services when the existing infrastructure is coupled with RFID. Since no operator is needed on site for an RFID-based operation, the operation is usually monitored from a remote terminal that is linked to the sensor device, through a data network.
A problem with the currently available RFID data network system is that information only travels in one direction, from the RFID sensors to the monitoring terminal. Thus, although the user can see that something problematic is happening, there is no method in the system for addressing the problem real-time. For example, a user may see that a package is traveling on a wrong route based on the tracking done by the RFID sensors. However, there is not much the user can do to correct the route when he sees the problem. By the time he can re-route the package, for example through a series of phone calls that eventually reach the delivery truck driver, the package may have already arrived at the wrong destination.
Although a post-mortem analysis of what happened might provide useful information for future implementation, the data would be much more useful if something could be done about a problematic event more promptly. An organized method that allows quick perception and prompt response to a complex situation is desired. Since computing power and sensor devices have become cost-effective and readily available, large numbers of sensors can be deployed to provide superior resolution. By employing the appropriate numbers of sensors and computers/networks, an infrastructure that can 1) support a large number of sensors of diverse capabilities; 2) provide easy configuration and rapid deployment and networking of the sensors; and 3) provide a simple one-stop solution to configuring and managing the sensors.
The software standards set by standards bodies, such as the Auto-ID center defined Savant based architecture, are designed to handle EPCGlobal data and form the basis of most RFID solutions today. However, these solutions are unable to handle generic event data and are limited by their adherence to a narrow standard. The inflexible adherence to the standard restricts their ability to scale up to larger, more diverse implementations made up of heterogeneous sensor devices.
Since the value and the utility of the information from the sensor often reside in the relationships between the data, a solution that can deploy, manage and process data in order to extract information, and in some cases even act on the data to facilitate the business activities of the enterprise, is needed. Such a system that can interface and interact with existing systems is desired. The system is preferably agile and scalable so that it can evolve along with the changing needs of the enterprise.